After receiving renewed funding from Indiana-based Lilly Endowment Inc.,
the Worship Institute has announced its 2005 roster of recipients in the
annual Worship
Renewal Grants program.

For 2005 the Institute is awarding almost $700,000 to 54 churches and
organizations across North America, using the support of its Lilly Endowment
grant to give grants to congregations and other Christian organizations
for projects they design to enrich and transform their worship.

The money will fund a variety of initiatives.

For instance a Baptist congregation in Cincinnati will study and incorporate
historic traditions of African American worship through a 13-week study
program. A Presbyterian congregation in San Francisco will work to extend
hospitality throughout its multicultural and multigenerational congregation.
A Christian Reformed Church in Salt Lake City will train area church choirs
in the area of music leadership. And a Lutheran congregation located near
a large medical facility will reflect on practices of prayers for healing
(see the Worship Renewal Grants website
for the complete list of all 54 projects).

"One of the most heartening parts of this process is discovering
so many faithful and creative people at work outside the limelight, in
ways that nourish the church but don't make headlines," says John
Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. "It's
a testament to the number of vital but unheralded forms of the ministry
of worship being carried out across North America."

The Worship Renewal Grants program, which began six years ago, is itself
the beneficiary of a grant. The Worship Institute has received renewed
funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. totaling $7.5 million for three
years of programming through 2008. The grant, the largest foundation grant
in the history of Calvin College, will help the Worship Institute continue
its work as catalyst for renewal among a broad international, ecumenical
constituency.

Witvliet says the Worship Renewal Grants Program is a good representation
of the efforts of the Worship Institute as a whole. It focuses on grass-roots
work in local communities, with Institute staff eager to offer encouragement,
resources and expertise to fit each local context.

Says Witvliet: "We aim to do what church-related colleges and seminaries
do best: mark off time and space for learning and teaching about what
it means to live faithful Christian lives, and then push for implementing
that vision in Christian communities."

Lilly Endowment Inc., an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation,
has supported the Institute since 1998. As part of several broad, national
funding initiatives, the Endowment has also awarded grants to Calvin Theological
Seminary for educational programming in its "Making Connections Initiative,"
to the Christian Reformed Church for sustaining excellence in pastoral
ministry, to Church of the Servant for a pastoral residency program, and
to Calvin College for programs in the theological exploration of vocation.

"All these programs," Witvliet says, "speak of the Endowment's
strong commitment to vital congregational life and ministry. They are
a source of great encouragement and learning to so many people nationwide.
We are grateful to be a part of this network."

The Worship Renewal Grants Program is only one of the Worship Institute’s
projects that the Lilly grant will support. This most recent grant will
also fund:

publication projects of both practical resources and scholarly research

collaborative research teams of scholars, pastors, and church leaders

academic courses at both Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary

a roster of regional continuing education events across the United
States and Canada

Since its inception in 1997, the Worship Institute has produced 19 scholarly
and practical books, published a series of choral anthems, awarded over
300 grants to congregations, sponsored 75 conferences or training events
and developed an extensive website of academic and pastoral resources
visited by over 8,000 unique visitors per month.

Witvliet says the most recent grant affirms more than just the work of
the Worship Institute.

"The grants are an affirmation of Calvin's campus-wide network of
resources," he says. "We have been fortunate since our beginnings
in 1997 to have available a multitude of partners at both Calvin College
and Calvin Theological Seminary."

More than 50 Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary faculty over
the past six years have been directly involved in Institute events as
lecturers, writers, performers and consultants. The Institute's work is
carried out by an energetic group of staff members, and is also supported
by Calvin staff at the Prince Conference Center, Campus Events, printing,
media relations, food service, and other campus organizations.

While the Worship Grant Renewal program may generate some of the Institute's
most widespread impact, Witvliet says, it is not the only way the word
is getting out.

Each January, the Institute's annual Symposium
on Worship brings some 1,500 people to the Calvin campus for a weekend
of reflection, learning, and worship. The Institute also goes on the road,
delivering a variety of training sessions from coast to coast. And its
publications and web resources have led to contacts with leaders in places
as far away as Japan, New Zealand, Pakistan, India, and Egypt.

"Worship matters," Witvliet says. "Every week 100 million
North Americans or more attend worship services. Despite widespread skepticism
about organized religion, public worship services remain one of the most
common religious practices. For all of this, Christian worship is not
always well-practiced. Yet every day we are energized by learning from
congregations as they ask and probe these topics. It is very gratifying
work."